5 athletes who’ll be playing their first Olympics at Paris in 2024 ft. HS Prannoy
The Paris Olympics 2024 are hardly two months away. In the previous editions, fans and enthusiasts have witnessed quite a few new faces who have uplifted the Tricolor in the grand stage. This upcoming edition too, will see some faces, who are not that familiar to the Indian audience or even in the global stage.
Most of the names in the list below have previously represented India at the international stage and are currently preparing hard for the Summer Olympics. Here are the top five athletes who’ll be debuting at the Olympics this time:
#1 Kishore Jena
Accompanying India’s golden boy Neeraj Chopra in the track and field event (Javelin) will be 28-year-old Kishore Jena. Jena took the world by surprise when he bagged silver in the Hangzhou Asian Games last year.
Jena, who always preferred volleyball as his destined sport, chose Javelin after a brief meeting with Laxman Baral, who himself was a former state champion in Odisha. Currently, he holds the second-best Javelin record in India with an attempt of 87.54m, a feat he established in the Asian Games itself.
This will be Jena’s maiden Olympics campaign and he’ll try to surpass Neeraj Chopra’s record and secure a medal in the showpiece event.
#2 Anush Agarwalla
The sole Indian representative at the Equestrian event is Anush Agarwalla, who rose to prominence in 2023 after winning an individual bronze at the Asian Games and ended India’s 41-year medal drought in the competition, will be vying hard to prove his prowess at the Paris Olympics.
Introduced to sport as a mere three-year-old, Anush went on to start taking equestrian seriously when he registered himself for riding lessons at the age of eight. Later, to hone his skills, the 24-year-old relocated to Germany and trained under Olympic gold-medalist, Hubertus Schmidt. Eventually, he went on to become India’s youngest Grand Prix winner and salvaged a place in the World Equestrian Championships.
#3 Tulika Maan
India will be fielding only one athlete in Judo and it is none other than 2022 Commonwealth Games silver-medalist Tulika Maan. She will ply her trade in the Women’s +78 KG category and will vye for a medal in her debut Olympics campaign.
Maan, who debuted at the Budapest World Championship in 2017, saw her recent achievement come in the form of a bronze medal in the Asian Open Championship in Taipei last year.
#4 HS Prannoy
If looked at the badminton contingent representing India at the Paris Olympics, HS Prannoy is certainly a big name but perhaps the underdog. He will represent India in the men’s singles event alongside compatriot Lakshya Sen, and aim to register a milestone achievement of his career.
Prannoy, who has been active since 2013, only has a gold medal in the 2022 Thomas Cup to boast about. Now here comes the twist. Prannoy has recently not been under the limelight but way back in January, he had started strategically planning for the Summer Olympics. He had expressed to partake in major tournaments prior to getting qualified for the mega event.
#5 Nikhat Zareen
Life doesn’t give everyone a second chance. But for Nikhat Zareen, this upcoming Olympics could be a fairytale segment of her career. In 2019, the Boxing Federation of India had decided to send Mary Kom directly to the Olympics, leaving out Zareen.
The talented boxer didn’t stay silent and demanded a trial match against Kom. In the sequence of events, she slowly developed a rivalry with the latter. Kom, as claimed by an article in the Times of India, had even said, “Who Nikhat Zareen?”
Unfortunately, Zareen had to bow down to Kom that time, but in 2024, the scenario is different. The 27-year-old is currently one of the big names in the boxing contingent alongside Lovlina Borgohain and is fully determined to bring home a medal. Will she become the first woman boxer to salvage a gold at the event? India will have her eyes on its fighter.